Avon Says SEC Is Investigating
A Special $10 Million Charge

By

Emily Nelson Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Sept. 15, 2000 2:02 a.m. ET

NEW YORK -- Avon Products Inc., the big direct seller of cosmetics and jewelry, said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a $10 million charge the company took in 1999 related to the write-off of computer software.

The company "firmly believes that it was properly treated as a special charge," said Brian Martin, an Avon spokesman. "It appears to us that the SEC may be questioning more the size -- whether it should have been a larger or a smaller charge -- and the timing of the...